Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant
The Portsmouth site near Piketon, Ohio, enriched uranium by gaseous diffusion and is now undergoing decontamination and decommissioning. Coverage tracks process building demolition, the on-site waste disposal facility, groundwater remediation, cleanup contracts, and the site’s reindustrialization for future missions.
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Cleanup & Remediation
Portsmouth-Paducah Boss Edwards Retires From DOE
Robert Edwards III, a seasoned hand around the weapons complex, has retired as manager of the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth-Paducah Project Office, DOE confirmed Thursday. Edwards retired effective July 31 “after 35 years of federal service,” and Joel Bradburne, the deputy manager for the Lexington, Ky., office in charge of the Portsmouth Site in Ohio […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Portsmouth-Paducah Boss Edwards Retires From DOE
Robert Edwards III, a seasoned hand around the weapons complex, has retired as manager of the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth-Paducah Project Office, DOE confirmed Thursday. Edwards retired effective July 31 “after 35 years of federal service,” and Joel Bradburne, the deputy manager for the Lexington, Ky., office in charge of the Portsmouth Site in Ohio […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Fluor Cites Net Loss From Continuing Ops; Seeks to Stay at Savannah River
While earnings from continuing operations were down at Fluor, Irving, Texas in the second quarter, the engineering and construction contractor said in a Friday press release it is reducing its debt and increasing its guidance for 2021. There was a net earnings loss from Fluor’s continuing operations of $14.4 million, or $0.08 per common share, […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
Lawsuit at Portsmouth Placed on Hold Until November
A federal suit brought by former security guards at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio along with other individuals alleging “racketeering” by contractors at the nuclear complex has been stayed for 120 days to give plaintiffs time to replace their trial lawyers. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Deavers in the U.S. District Court for Southern […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap Up: Hanford Copes With Heat Issues; Local Union Prez Touts Portsmouth Potential
During an unusually hot summer, some crews at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state are sweating through their protective clothing, according to federal safety reports. Hanford workers at the Liquid Effluent Retention Facility experienced some incidents of contamination during June and July after management modified requirements for personal protective equipment (PPE) as […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
Lawsuit at Portsmouth Placed on Hold Until November
A federal suit brought by former security guards at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio along with other individuals alleging “racketeering” by contractors at the nuclear complex has been stayed for 120 days to give plaintiffs time to replace their trial lawyers. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Deavers in the U.S. District Court for Southern […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Court Offers Mediation in DOE Portsmouth Contamination Lawsuit
A federal district court in Ohio has said attorneys involved in a lawsuit over off-site radioactive contamination from the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio should explore potential mediation soon. A notice published Friday by Richard Nagel, the federal clerk for the U.S. District Court in Southern Ohio, listed a case brought by Ursula […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
Court Offers Mediation in DOE Portsmouth Contamination Lawsuit
A federal district court in Ohio has said attorneys involved in a lawsuit over off-site radioactive contamination from the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio should explore potential mediation soon. A notice published Friday by Richard Nagel, the federal clerk for the U.S. District Court in Southern Ohio, listed a case brought by Ursula […]
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Transuranic Waste
Senate Defense Bill Restores SRS Community Funds, Would Keep GAO Busy on EM Issues
Like a spending bill passed earlier this month by the House Appropriation Committee, the National Defense Authorization Act that cleared Senate Armed Services last week,restores $5.7 million in community funds the Joe Biden White House left out of its fiscal 2022 budget request for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. That […]
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Budget & Policy
Ryan Touts Community Liaison, Land Use Plan for Portsmouth
The House Appropriations Committee’s spending bill would provide the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio with more funds than the White House sought for community and regulatory support, including setting up a liaison to localities around the former gaseous diffusion plant, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) said Monday. The fiscal 2022 appropriations package for Energy […]
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Budget & Policy
Ryan Touts Community Liaison, Land Use Plan for Portsmouth
The House Appropriations Committee’s spending bill would provide the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio with more funds than the White House sought for community and regulatory support, including setting up a liaison to localities around the former gaseous diffusion plant, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) said Monday. The fiscal 2022 appropriations package for Energy […]
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Transuranic Waste
Wrap Up: WIPP Fan Restart Planned for Fall; New SRNL Fellows; Nevada Fires Contained
The Department of Energy now expects to restart an underground fan at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico by early fall as a means to bolster airflow until a new permanent ventilation system is operational in a few years. Restarting the 700-C underground fan should add about 90,000 cubic feet per minute, bringing […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Discovery Hearing Set. Aug. 4 in Suit Against Portsmouth Contractors
A federal magistrate judge set an Aug. 4 discovery hearing in a lawsuit about alleged radioactive contamination by current and former contractors at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio. The U.S. District Court for Southern Ohio’s Thursday action will help determine what documentation Ursula McGlone and other plaintiffs living within seven miles of […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Portsmouth Plaintiffs Urge Fed Court to Reject Contractors’ Statute of Limitations Defense
A federal lawsuit brought against current and former Department of Energy contractors at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio is timely because it was filed soon after the public learned of radioactive contamination at a public school outside the fence, plaintiffs said in a filing last week. Ursula McGlone and fellow plaintiffs argue in a June […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Ohio Congressman Holds Town Hall on Portsmouth Cleanup Concerns
Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) held a town hall-style meeting Saturday in Piketon, Ohio, to discuss local concerns over open-air demolition of the X-326 Process Building at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site and radioactive contamination discovered around a local school. Ryan and Zack Space, former congressman for Ohio’s 18th district, were scheduled to participate in […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Portsmouth Plaintiffs Urge Fed Court to Reject Contractors’ Statute of Limitations Defense
A federal lawsuit brought against current and former Department of Energy contractors at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio is timely because it was filed soon after the public learned of radioactive contamination at a public school outside the fence, plaintiffs said in a filing last week. Ursula McGlone and fellow plaintiffs argue in a June […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Ohio Congressman Holds Town Hall on Portsmouth Cleanup Concerns
Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) held a town hall-style meeting Saturday in Piketon, Ohio, to discuss local concerns over open-air demolition of the X-326 Process Building at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site and radioactive contamination discovered around a local school. Ryan and Zack Space, former congressman for Ohio’s 18th district, were scheduled to participate in […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Federal Claims Court Wants Briefs After July 4 in Swift & Staley’s SBA Dispute
The Small Business Administration, Swift & Staley and a firm that successfully challenged the latter’s size eligibility for a Department of Energy landlord contract at the Paducah Site in Kentucky have until after Independence Day to file briefs with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Federal Claims Judge Thompson Dietz last week gave the government, […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Longtime Fed Ike White nears 2-year Mark as Top DOE Nuclear Cleanup Boss
With the Joe Biden administration yet to nominate a permanent assistant secretary for the Office of Environmental Management, William (Ike) White is nearing the two-year mark at the helm of the $7-billion-plus nuclear cleanup branch. White, a career federal employee, has been the top boss at the Environmental Management (EM) since mid-June 2019, initially given […]
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Budget & Policy
Biden’s $7.6B Request is Highest Recommendation for Cleanup in Years
At deadline Friday, President Joe Biden’s administration had yet to publish a detailed Department of Energy budget request for fiscal 2022, but figures provided May 28 by the Office of Management and Budget show that the White House is willing to spend big on nuclear-weapons cleanup. The nearly $7.6-billion fiscal 2022 request for the DOE […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Defendant Portsmouth Firms Urge Dismissal of Lawsuit Filed After Contamination Found at Local School
Current and former contractors at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio this week filed a motion to dismiss one of the two class action lawsuits brought against those companies by local residents following the May 2019 disclosure of radioactive contamination of a public school outside the fence. The dismissal motion arrived at about […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Portsmouth Plaintiffs Seek Delay to Replace Lawyers
A group of plaintiffs who last year sued current and former Department of Energy contractors at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio have asked a federal court for a four-month delay in the case while they replace two Florida attorneys, one of which is apparently facing disbarment proceedings back home. The plaintiffs, including former Portsmouth security […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Vaccinated Hanford Workers Can Remove Their Masks Tuesday
Effective Tuesday, May 25 fully-vaccinated workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state will no longer need to wear a face covering, the site’s manager Brian Vance said in an online memo to employees Wednesday. The directive is slated to go into effect about a week after all-hands letter from Vance to […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
University Prof Cites Portsmouth Contamination, Locals Press DOE for School Replacement
A Northern Arizona University researcher, Michael Ketterer, recently reasserted findings from 2019 that radioactive contamination from the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio poses a concern for people outside the fence, and local leaders are using his analysis to press for federal money to replace a shuttered school. In an April 28 letter to […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
University Prof Cites Portsmouth Contamination, Locals Press DOE for School Replacement
A Northern Arizona University researcher, Michael Ketterer, recently reasserted findings from 2019 that radioactive contamination from the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio poses a concern for people outside the fence, and local leaders are using his analysis to press for federal money to replace a shuttered school. In an April 28 letter to […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Vaxed Employees at Hanford, Portsmouth, Paducah Should Not Ditch Masks Just Yet
The Department of Energy’s largest and most complex nuclear cleanup property is looking at relaxing its COVID-19 protocols soon but has made no changes yet, Hanford’s site manager Brian Vance said in a Tuesday memo to all employees. Likewise, the Portsmouth Site in Ohio and the Paducah Site in Kentucky are “for now” keeping their […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Weekly COVID-19 Cases Drop Below 100 Across EM; Los Alamos Area Doing Well on Vax
Department of Energy nuclear cleanup sites were tracking 76 confirmed active cases of COVID-19 as of Thursday, down 30 from last week and the lowest weekly case count since the fall. The DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) case numbers were last this low during early October. The figures provided via email from an EM […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Swift & Staley’s Link to Portsmouth JV Disqualified it for Paducah Award, Small Biz Admin Says
Swift & Staley’s share of the Portsmouth Site’s infrastructure services contractor helped make the company ineligible for a small-business set-aside contract at Department of Energy’s Paducah Site, according to a ruling made public this week by the Small Business Administration. Swift & Staley’s annual receipts alone did not push it past a $41.5 million size […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Swift & Staley’s Link to Portsmouth JV Disqualified it for Paducah Award, Small Biz Admin Says
Swift & Staley’s share of the Portsmouth Site’s infrastructure services contractor helped make the company ineligible for a small-business set-aside contract at Department of Energy’s Paducah Site, according to a ruling made public this week by the Small Business Administration. Swift & Staley’s annual receipts alone did not push it past a $41.5 million size […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Fluor Brings in Less Revenue During Q1 But Government Contracting a Bright Spot
Fluor, Irving, Texas, suffered a net loss from continuing operations of $61 million compared with a net gain of $21.6 million during the first quarter of 2020, the international engineering and construction company said Friday. A $68-million expense linked to development of its NuScale small modular reactor business, and other costs, contributed to the slide, […]





